The moulding of ligno cellulose products has been proposed heretofore, and for example chips formed from pinus radiata timber are sometimes moulded into sheets known as chip board, wherein the chips are adhered together with an adhesive or glue material. Proposals have also been made to mould chip board into various shapes, for example funeral caskets. However, there are a number of problems which are encountered with this process:
Firstly the cost of the adhesive material used is so high that the chip board is excessively expensive, and this price is likely to rise if there is a rise in the cost of the oil which is a basic material for the production of the adhesive material presently used.
Secondly, with only a few exceptions, it is difficult to mould a product having chip board to have an outer lamina thereby increasing the strength of the product. Thus for example it is not considered feasible to produce a product having aluminium as the outer lamina of a chip board product.
Thirdly, the cost of the chips themselves is an increasing cost, and the production of the chips requires the use of specialised machinery requiring a high capital investment.
Fourthly, chip board is formed by a process which includes the application of large quantities of heat and pressure, and additionally for these reasons the capital investment required is quite high.
The main object of this invention is to provide a process for the moulding of a product which incorporates ligno cellulose material, either with or without outer laminae wherein the material cost and the capital cost is much less than with say chip board, but wherein a product with satisfactory mechanical characteristics can be formed. The invention also relates to a product moulded by the process.